About the homeless, do you despise or do you empathize?

Question

I have been seeing a few things lately that has really got me thinking.
Here in lovely St. Petersburg Florida there is a homeless problem, I guess they call it a problem because no one has come up with an answer, otherwise it would be the homeless solution.

Recently, a local mission allowed the homeless to put up tents on their property. The geography puts the poorest part of St. Pete near downtown, so humans complained. The city responded with an ulitimatum for them to not be homeless in 3 days. On the third day they were ordered (just doing their jobs) to destroy, dismantle and confiscate the tents. The solution they presented was sleep in doorways and such. There is plenty of video out there showing it.

So today I hear in FL again there is a church or chapel, anyway some flavor of religion, is allowing the homeless to sleep on their property and the city is giving them an ultimatum of a $2,000 a day fine.

What I am saying is that why make it worse for someone who is already at the bottom. How quickly do you think you could get back on your feet with no money, friends or resources available? If you are like a lot of folks and live paycheck to paycheck all it takes is getting fired, and without friends and relatives in a position to help, they find themselves homeless. So what if there are homeless humans that we need to as a nation take care of? What is the real expense to us? For instance today they approved a $21 Billion dollar 5 year budget increase for security screening at airports. That essentially boils down to about $77 per person 21B/270M over a 5 year period.
For $21 Billion we could build an infrastructure and program that actually works, because what we have now is obviously not working. I think if we are going to spend our money on terrorists, we should spend an equal amount on AMERICANS!

Most of these folks are citizens, the American Dream is to do something to help your fellow Americans. That is what the whole thing was about. We are a country founded on banding together to help make a better life for all. Did we forget somewhere along the way…

The problem is that for the most part the general misconception is that all homeless are drug addicts, this is not the case. When you consider that there are many homeless families that account for multiple people who break no laws and just can’t make ends meet.

What is needed is a national job placement program to get people into jobs in their desired locations. Why force someone to build a life in a place where they do not want to be. There is a good percentage of homeless that are stuck because they came for work and lived paycheck to paycheck, then the paycheck stopped and on the streets they went. There are still others that are in the situations for ridiculous reasons, such as a suspended license gets them 3 months in jail for an unpaid speeding ticket of $50 and they loose everything. There are hundreds of stories.

If you really want to know what it is like without having to go through it go to the local thrift shop, pick up some clothes, don’t shower for a few days and go down to where the local soup kitchens are, they are usually in a zone, spend sun-up through sunset homeless. No money. Watch what happens. They will look out for you. They will help you find out where to eat, how to get warm clothes, talk with you. Most are just in ridiculous situations and have no humans in a financial situation that can bear the brunt of putting someone or a family back on their feet. The bottom line is once you get to know what is really going on you can’t help but realize that to help them would be an endeavor worthy of an American.

The program has to be a non-religious based program based on reality. Focusing only on the financial aspects of getting back on your feet. So, a central housing, education (at colleges), and job placement for anyone who needs it. One bomb dropped in a foreign land is $30M, most people could get back on their feet with less then $10,000 and some basic administrative overhead associated with central management. We had to do what we had to do, what are we going to do now?

I think we would need some help building the housing and administrative buildings, I wonder if we could find any homeless people to help us and we can pay get them medical attention and pay them a good wage, like government contracting, you know, $30 an hour something to feel proud of, something to take part in, a way for them to take the first step to success. Maybe Habitat for Humanity should become a division of State, instead of just a non profit.

Answer 1

i empathize of course
it is so easy to fall into that homeless trap
without a job you cant get a home , without a home you cant get a job
so if anyone at any point finds themself homeless due to sickness or whatever ... getting back into the system is near impossible
if the local mission wants to allow tents on their property they should of course be able to
it is disgusting this gets ignored
even worse that when people do try to help , they are punished for it

Answer 2

What a shame. Do they have to be in marked zones if they're gonna panhandle, too? That's one of Orlando's solutions. And Melbourne I believe is fighting with a local charity that wants to expand their soup kitchen/shelter.

This stuff hits close to home for me. I know some of them are just mooches off society, but I also know that others are in their situation due to circumstances beyond their control. My uncle Jim was one of them. Wonderful man. He'd do anything he to could help anyone who needed it. I know he had some alcohol problems, and I don't know if any other substances were involved, and I wouldn't doubt some emotional issues (I think like me he put on a happy face and pushed aside the fact that he was dying inside, and had a hard time asking people for help). Even though he knew he would be welcome in any of our homes, he lived on the streets. He held a job, was a good worker, and honest person, everything else you could hope for in a human being, he just didn't have a roof over his head to call his own. It was all too much though and one day about 6 years ago, he decided stepping in front of a train was better than facing the rest of his life with whatever problems he had.

I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. If I have anything to spare, I give what I can. They're part of -someone's- family, and I'd want people to do the same for me if I were to end up in that situation. There's so many things that could be done, the least of them is giving the homeless somewhere to set up their tents and sleep. It's a shame.

Answer 3

I personally empathize,You have things pretty much in proper perspective.Now a days nothing but death is certain.The bottom can fall out from under you at any given time and even if you are Donald Trump there is such a thing as a depression.I can't understand why they can't build facilities like army bases to house and feed them in return they have jobs building things or making things that the compound can sell for the expenses.
Not having jobs that you need 20 yrs. of college to perform but just ordinary jobs and maybe specialized job training programs.They could have rules and regulations they would have to abide by,Although not extremely strict either.Rules the authorities would like imposed on them given they were in the same situation them selves.And if things were going good enough maybe the people could have some money in accounts made for them and have access in cases of hardship.Well that is just my opinion on it. Take care and may God bless you.

Answer 4

hi, i extremely don't understand. some people look to address united statesand downs in existence better effective than others. An analogy is melancholy and suicide. I have considered some commit suicide or withdraw into severe melancholy for dropping a boy or female friend, failing an audition or the front exam to larger establishments. on the different hand I have considered those who spent numerous years in concentration camps, get decreased to walking skeletons, see their loved ones disappeared or killed yet 20 years later be properly to do, pillars of the community, new households and run tremendous businesses. again, all of it builds all the way down to human being personality and some have better personality and perseverance than others. nonetheless i do not mock or detest them. Years again at the same time as i grow to be mouthy about severe taxes helping welfare bums, I had an extremely good oil patch interest regardless of the indisputable fact that the upward push got here to a grinding halt unexpectedly and many were laid off which incorporates yours quite. It grow to be difficult to flow from some hundred an afternoon to 5.00 an hour. I did what you probably did and dealt with it really properly on account that i grow to be in solid corporation and prefer they say, misery loves corporation! Cheers, Michael Kelly

Answer 5

First of all it is tragic that people are homeless. However, it is not the governments responsibility to remedy the problem. Governments main priority to Americans is to defend the country above all other programs. I do not know the story of these people. I do not know how much money was donated to them etc. But, private funding should help these people. I think if your community has such a problem with them, your community should help them.

Answer 6

It's 'respectability' against humanity. People housed in tents is obviously against any regulation on what a proper house is. On the other hand, it is also obvious that those people are better off living in tents than on porches. With the American social system the way it is, I really don't think it's right for those tents to be gotten rid of. I mean, it's not as if these people have any place to go - or they'd be there.

Answer 7

I grew up in Hawaii where there isa hiuge homeless problem. Cost of living id very high there. For those who do their hardest but can't get anywhere I empathize with them. The others that are just lazy or addicts I'm sorry, do something to better your lives. Our country helps other nations when they turn their backs on their own people. We have lots of homeless and hungry children out there. We need to do something.

Answer 8

Some people get in that situation by their own making, however their are many that in that situation through circumstances that could not be avoided.

Although im atheist i must say that the Salvation Army helps alot where homelessness is concerned (in my country). It is a branch of Christianity that actually do something to help the poor and needy.

Answer 9

I dont know, I do empathize a bit, but I can never be sure if some people have got themselves into that situation or if some people had no choice in it. The dismantling of tents sounds pretty harsh though, they could have been rally helpful.

Answer 10

I think that my wife had one of the best solutions to this matter. Her solution was for the federal government to give tax rebates to allow empty homes to be fixed up for them to live in as long as they work to improve the property. They would then have a mailing address and would qualify for government assistance. This would allow them to feel self-worth which is missing in a number of them. The tax rebate should be extended for several years and our government should be able to assist them in finding some kind of meaningful work for our local city, county, or state government that pays minimum wage so that they would be encouraged to find other source(s) of employment. This group of people , for the most part, consists of intelligent individuals who can truly be a great part of our communities. I am sure that there are buildings available without spending that kind of money to house them. I am sure that they would work for their housing. A number of them just need some real direction in their lives. Local individuals might even contribute some of the materials and food to assist in this work without costing anyone much money from community funds. We all need to be a part of the answer, not part of the PrObLeM! I do not despise anyone in this world. GOD made each of us and has given HIS SON so that all might be able to be in Heaven with HIM. Won't you reach out and teach another of HIS WORD?

Study these scriptures and see what you think. To become a Christian:
HEAR - Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
BELIEVE - To the Prison guard in Acts 16:31 Paul and Silas said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
REPENT - Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
CONFESS CHRIST - Matthew 10:32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
BE BAPTIZED - Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
CONTINUE TO BE FAITHFUL - Revelation 2:10b Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Send me a note if you have questions. I am anxious to hear from you. Have a Great day.
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